Falling for Her
by THISISAGIRAFFE
Summary: A collection of short, fluffy Officer Lunchbox fics. (Originally called "Camping with Friends") No. 2 is Gail meeting Holly's family.
1. Camping with Friends

**This started off as a single oneshot but now I've turned it into a series of mostly fluffy, not necessarily chronological, Officer Lunchbox oneshots. If anyone has any prompts they want me to try then let me know. **

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the Rookie Blue characters or storylines. I'm just messing around with them.

**Paring:** Gail x Holly (Officer Lunchbox). Other couples mentioned are Dov x Chloe and Andy x Nick.

**Rating:** K+

**Summary:** All the Rookies go camping together. Holly and her niece join them. Set a while after 5x01

"What is with you today Gail?" asked Andy suspiciously, as the unusually perky officer hummed to herself. They were both sat at their desks in the station, compiling reports for some of the incidents that they had attended over the last few days. There were only a few more hours of their shift left before all of the rookies had three days off. Chris and Dov had planned and organised a camping trip for them all, Leo and Christian included. Andy wasn't exactly keen on the idea but Nick, being an ex-soldier, was looking forward to it. "You can't be excited about this camping thing?" said Andy; Gail wasn't really the camping type. In fact, when Chris had first suggested it, Gail had come rather close to actually flat out refusing to go. Gail didn't reply to Andy's question, she just gave her a strange, indecipherable look, that left Andy wondering if she had missed something, then carried on with her paperwork. Andy opened her mouth to press her further, but decided against it. Just moments later Gail started humming again, happily.

Chris wandered in the locker room to see who had already finished their shift. It was empty apart from Gail who was hanging up her uniform, smiling to herself in the way that people only do when nobody is watching, and Gail smiling was a much rarer occurrence than it was for most other people. Chris thought she looked so beautiful when she smiled. "Hey Gail," he called out, not wanting to startle her. She looked up, the smile diminished quickly but didn't disappear altogether. "You ready for our big adventure?" he asked. Gail's slight smile immediately vanished and she looked guilty. "You are coming aren't you!" Chris really wanted everyone to be there. It would be a well-deserved break for them all, after the shooting and everything. It wouldn't be the same if Gail wasn't there. But Gail looked apologetic, she opened her mouth to give an excuse but Chris interrupted, "Holly can come too!" he offered, and Gail hesitated slightly, thinking it through.

"Holly's niece is visiting for the weekend." revealed Gail.

"She can come too!" said Chris quickly, "The more the merrier!" he smiled. Gail looked a little unconvinced, but didn't immediately turn him down. "We're leaving in two hours," he reminded her before going to meet Dov and Chloe in the parking lot. He had to be back home for Denise to drop off Christian.

Gail marched into the morgue; she came to meet Holly most days after her shift ended so none of the staff were surprised to see her. "I have been stuck at my desk all day!" Gail started complaining before Holly had even realised that she was in the lab, "I hate writing reports!" Holly turned her head, put down the piece of rib cage that she was examining and leaned over to kiss Gail on the cheek.

"I'm sorry you've had a bad day sweetie," she said sympathetically, "give me two minutes and we can go." She started tidying away her work and putting her papers into her bag. When she turned, she found Gail sitting in the desk chair giving her puppy eyes.

"What?" Holly asked slowly and a little suspiciously, she knew her girlfriend well and could tell that she was going to try and persuade her about something. "What do you want?" she asked. Gail tilted her head a little and flashed that smile that she saved for when she was with Holly.

"You know how much I hate camping," said Gail sweetly.

"Oh, of course. You're going camping with your friends this weekend." remembered Holly. She tried, rather unsuccessfully, to hide the disappointment washing over her face.

"Well," said Gail slowly, still with the puppy eyes, swinging slightly on the swivel desk chair, "it would be so much better if you and Becki were there too." she suggested.

"Really?" said Holly, a smile sweeping away the disappointment, "But what about your friends? Does anyone apart from Chris know about us?" Gail shrugged, but had the decency to look a little sheepish. She raised an eyebrow, still expecting a response from Holly despite failing to answer her question. "We'd love to!" said Holly, before Gail could change her mind. Gail lit up with a smile.

"Good!" she leaned in and kissed Holly. It was a slow, tender kiss and she could feel the smile on Holly's face. After the kiss had, reluctantly, ended, Holly picked up her bag and presented her arm for Gail to link arms with her.

"You're such a nerd." laughed Gail, winding her arm around Holly's.

Chris parked his truck in a big clearing in the forest, only a short distance out from the visitor centre and bathroom block. Chloe and Dov got out and started lifting the tents and other equipment out, while Chris helped Christian out of the car. He immediately started running about, incredibly overexcited, but Chris called him over because Nick's landrover was pulling up. Leo jumped out of the car and ran over to his friend. He was just about as excited as Christian. Andy, Nick and Traci began helping the others with setting up the tents. It didn't take long for Andy and Traci to give up and they found a log to sit on so that they could watch the kids. "Where's Gail?" asked Traci, "Wasn't everyone supposed to be here this weekend?"

"Yeah, and what is up with here at the moment?" asked Andy, "She's been weirdly happy recently. It's very disconcerting." she pulled a weird face and everyone laughed.

"They're on their way." said Chris, "They texted me a few minutes ago."

"Who?" asked Dov.

"She's bringing someone?" asked Traci, intrigued.

"Yeah," said Chris casually, busying himself with trying to connect the tent poles. Andy and Traci exchanged interested glances but didn't say anything else, however, they did start gossiping quietly when the others had gone back to trying to work out how to put the tents up. Nick was complaining that these tents were too 'fussy' compared to the ones that they used in the military. Chloe was trying to boss everyone around but her high pitched squeaks were just annoying people.

Only one of the tents was properly set up by the time that Gail's car pulled in. Everyone subconsciously stopped what they were doing, silently watching to see who else was in the car. Gail and Holly got out of the car. They were both wearing jeans, casual t-shirts and walking boots. Holly opened the back door of the car and lifted out a young girl, resting her on her hip. She looked a lot like Holly. Her hair was long, dark and straight; she even had glasses like Holly's, which she pushed back onto her face with two fingers because they had slipped down her nose when Holly had picked her up. Her yellow fleece exactly matched her yellow trainers. "Everyone this is Holly, from forensics, and this is her niece, Becki." announced Gail, loud enough so that everyone could hear her, gesturing to each of them. Everyone said 'hi' and introduced themselves. Holly put Becki down on her feet so that she could say hello to Leo and Christian, but Becki scuttled to hide behind her, grabbing onto one of Holly's legs and one of Gail's, peering between them tentatively. The boys looked at her silently for a few seconds, then Leo said,

"Do you want to play tag?" Becki looked up at Holly and Gail, who both smiled and nodded, so she ran through their legs and tapped Leo on the shoulder,

"You're it!" she giggled as she ran away, turning her head to see his reaction.

Everyone silently watched the children playing for a few minutes, smiling at their joy. "Right," said Chris, clapping his hands, "Let's try again with these tents." Chris and Christian's tent was set up, but not fully pegged out. All the other tents were in various states of attempted assembly. There were poles lying everywhere and bits of canvas sticking up at strange angles. Holly laughed as she surveyed the scene.

"Do any of you actually know how to put up a tent?" she asked, a huge grin on her face.

"Yes!" insisted Chris and Nick, at exactly the same time that Chloe, Dov, Andy and Traci said "No!"

Holly tied back her hair into a ponytail in a very business-like manner. She picked up one of the tent canvases and started directing everyone. The next three tents went up incredibly quickly after that. Gail didn't do very much work. She stood back, with half an eye on the kids who were still running around having fun, the rest of her watching the progress of the tents with a small smile. Every few minutes Holly would look over at her and give her a smile, sometimes a wink. Although Holly was giving orders, she wasn't doing it in a bossy way, and everyone clearly liked her. She was really good with people, unlike Gail. For a few seconds Gail wondered why she had put off introducing Holly to her friends for such a long time, but deep down she knew that it wasn't Holly she had been hiding, it was herself. Gail wasn't good at opening up and talking about her feelings; Peck's weren't. Two of Gail's ex's were on this trip; she still wasn't sure how they would react to the fact that Holly and Gail were an item. She also didn't know how obvious it was that they were more than friends.

"Are we done then?" asked Chris, surveying the tents that they'd pitched.

"One more." said Holly, opening the boot of Gail's car and pulling out the dark green bag. She carried it over to the space in which Gail was standing, "Come on honey, it's time for you to do some work." she bumped her hip against Gail's and handed her the bag. Gail pulled a pouty face, but she couldn't hold it when Holly kissed her on the nose, a smile broke out across her face. For a moment she was lost in Holly's eyes, but then suddenly she was aware that the others were all watching them, though she didn't turn to look at them. Instead, she leaned in and kissed her girlfriend. It was a brief, slightly awkward kiss due to the fact that she was holding a tent bag out in front of her so it got squashed between them. They pulled apart, slowly, but then Gail turned her head away from the others and looked at the floor, her face blushing red with embarrassment. Holly laughed silently, took the tent bag, dropped it on the ground, then took a step closer so that their bodies were touching, wrapped her arms around Gail's waist and pulled her tight for a deep, passionate kiss. She could feel Gail's red hot cheeks, and then she felt Gail's arms reaching up her back and holding her tight, relaxing further into the kiss.

"Eeewww," whined Leo, "kissing is gross!" Everyone burst into laughter, including Gail who buried her head in Holly's neck, even more embarrassed. Holly was laughing so much that she had to wipe tears from her eyes. Traci scooped Leo up and kissed him on his forehead, whispering something in his ear.

"Can we put up this tent now?" Gail asked Holly's neck, rather mortified that she'd shown her soft side in front of these people. Holly laughed at her again, then took pity on her and unzipped the tent bag.

Everyone pitched in and so Gail, Holly and Becki's tent was up in just a few minutes. Nick and Chris dragged over some more logs, Holly got some folding chairs out of the back of Gail's car, while Chloe and Andy tried to light a fire; it took them several attempts but soon they got it going. Then Nick and Andy hauled themselves onto one of the logs, Chloe was perched on Dov's lap on one of the chairs. Traci and Chris sitting one another of the logs with Christian and Leo who were having raucous thumb wars. On the third log Gail was resting her head on Holly's shoulder, still pretty embarrassed by their earlier show of affection, but enjoying spending time with Holly outside the morgue or Holly's apartment. Becki was investigating a dandelion in the grass nearby; she was picking off each individual seed and examining it carefully before blowing it away. When most of the seeds were gone she rushed over to Gail and Holly, "Look, Aunty Hols, Aunty Gail," she said, excitedly brandishing the remaining plant, "it's dotty!" she pointed at the marks that the seeds had left in the head of the flower. Holly took the stem and examined it, smiling.

"You are turning into a very clever scientist just like your Aunty!" said Gail, picking Becki up and putting her on her lap. Becki smiled and laughed. Gail bopped her gently on the nose with her finger, making a little popping noise as she did so. This made Becki laugh even more and she reached up and poked Gail's nose. Gail faked shock, then she started tickling the little girl who squirmed and squealed with laughter. Holly was watching them,

"And you, my love," she said to Gail, her smile wide and bright, "are turning soft." Gail looked jokingly offended,  
"Me? Gail Peck? Never!" she said, then laughing and kissing Holly on the cheek, and Becki on the forehead. She didn't blush this time though. The others looked on in amazement and confusion as they saw their normally cold, harsh, colleague acting so out of character.

Just then Holly's phone beeped. "It's Jacob," she said to Gail, "I think he's trying to call me but the signal is rubbish." She reached to pick Becki off Gail's lap and sweeping her through the air like a plane until placing her on her hip, "Come on poppet, let's go and see if we can find some signal so that you can talk to daddy." Before wandering off, she gave Gail a quick peck on the cheek that left the blonde woman smiling sweetly. As soon as Holly and Becki were out of earshot, the others all burst into questions, talking over each other in excitement.

"You and Holly?"

"How long has this...?"

"She's female!"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"How did we not notice?"

"We want all the details!"

This caused Gail's face to burn crimson again, but she still smiled. "We met at a crime scene – the Robbie Robbins murder – I got assigned to stay with the body at the lab. We talked. It was nice. Then I didn't have anyone to go to Frank and Noelle's wedding with so I asked her, you know, just as friends, and we went. It was really fun. Normally I hate weddings but Holly, she kind of made it bearable." Gail babbled quickly. Initially she shifted uncomfortably, embarrassed, but then she got on a roll. "We were sitting in the closet, ironically, and she kissed me. We'd both had a lot of champagne and it was just a tiny peck, but, I don't know, it felt… different somehow." She smiled, reliving the feeling. "One night we were in the Penny and she was there with some girl, on a date. I didn't really know why but I was suddenly angry – well jealous I guess – it was that night that we were all doing trivia and I got really drunk." Chris and Dov nodded, remembering the amount of alcohol that Gail had consumed that night and the state she had ended up in. "Then she heard about the Kevin Ford shootings so she made some excuse to come and see me. She got really worried when she found out that I'd been shot at and she wanted me to stay in the station so that I wasn't in any danger. It's lucky that I didn't really. She started babbling about how that date she went on was stupid and meant nothing, so I kissed her." She slowed down her story. "You know when you do something and you didn't plan to do it, and you don't actually realise that you are doing it until halfway through. It was like that. One second she was talking, and then we were kissing." She paused for a minute, savouring the memory. "It was amazing." The other women were all smiling at the description, it was amazing to see Gail so happy. Chris and Nick both looked a little uncomfortable. "But then it was such a crazy day and she came and saw me in main office later and I upset her because my brother was there, and other people were around, so I didn't let her hold my hand. That was stupid. She was really worried about me. She just wanted some reassurance that I was going to be ok." Gail looked down at her lap. The others saw a flash of shame on her face. "But I called her when we all went to the hospital. I was so good to see her. She made me feel safe again. I introduced her to Steve! When we knew that Chloe and Sam were going to be ok, she dropped me back at our apartment, but I didn't like being there on my own so I went over to hers, drunk a lot, then started freaking out and cut off all my hair. Even when I was so upset, and really losing it, she made me feel beautiful." Andy, Traci and Chloe audible 'ahh'ed at this, and Gail gave them a small, embarrassed, smile. "She's really special guys." Said Gail, her tone changing slightly, "I've never felt like this before. Sorry," she said, realising that Chris and Nick were there.

"Don't apologise," said Nick, unusually softly, "I'm really glad that you're happy."

"I am." Said Gail, trying to contain her smile.

"We can tell!" laughed Chris. Everyone looked at Gail's red cheeks and the smile that filled her eyes as well as her lips, and laughed with him.

"Gail was just telling us the story of you two," said Traci as Holly walked back over carrying Becki.

"Did she tell you about the baseball incident?" said Holly, grinning cheekily.  
"Noooo!" shouted Gail, burying her head in her hands. Becki ran over to Leo and Christian who had got bored of all the talking so were now running around playing a game. Holly sat down really close to Gail, raising her eyebrows at her,

"I can't believe you left this story out!" She turned to look at the rest of the group, "It's hilarious!"

The way that Holly told them all about Gail's catastrophic attempt at baseball demonstrated to them all, if they hadn't noticed already, how completely in love the two women were. It was fantastically fascinating to see the interactions between them and hear the way that Holly described the woman that they all thought they knew. This group of officers were Gail's closest friends, but none of them had seen this side of her before. They'd known her when she was with Chris, and when she was with Nick, and when she was single, but they'd never seen her so happy, so relaxed. They had always just chalked it up to Gail being Gail. She was a Peck - her family was legendary; they was incredible cops, they were ambitious and determined and they didn't let emotions get in the way; that kind of upbringing has a big effect on someone. But clearly Gail just needed to find the right person. With Holly Gail laughed, and smiled, and blushed; was gentle, and soft, and loving; and Holly was just the same. Then Gail made some harsh comment at Chloe and it was clear that Gail was still Gail, the cranky smartarse that they all knew so well.

**I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think! :)**

**Edit: I've had so many really nice comments that I'm thinking about extending this story so keep your eye out for more. Thanks for the reviews so far! :)**


	2. Meeting the Family Pt1

**I decided to turn this into a set of oneshots. I hope you enjoy them! :)**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the Rookie Blue characters or storylines. I'm just messing around with them.

**Paring:** Gail x Holly (Officer Lunchbox)

**Rating:** K

**Summary:** Set after 4x09. Gail meets Holly's family.

The coffee shop barista was clearly a bit freaked out by the two women who were laughing so much that they could barely make their order; every time they looked at each other they burst into hysterics. Gail kept burying her head in her hands with embarrassment, still laughing uncontrollably; Holly kept waving an imaginary bat around, re-enacting Gail's failed baseball attempt. As Gail carried the two coffee cups, Holly's arm was wrapped around her waist, it was so natural that neither of them really noticed it. They sat at the counter along the window so that they could watch the people walking past, commenting on their outfits or making up stories about where they could be coming from or going to. The weird voices that Gail was putting on, plus the crazy stories she came up with were making Holly cry with laughter. Several of the other coffee shop patrons were giving them very strange looks but they didn't care. They were interrupted by a shrill beepy song being sung by Holly's phone. She glanced at the screen, apologised to Gail, then answered the call. "Hey….a dessert?...Sure…No, I hadn't forgotten." Her eyes widened so Gail could tell she was lying. "Well, ok, I had forgotten, sorry. What time?...ok…yep…right…see you tonight…I love you to." She hung up the phone and Gail looked at her, questioningly, tilting her head slightly to one side. "Plus ones forever right?" asked Holly, smiling sweetly. Gail didn't say anything, she just raised her eyebrows, smiling. "My mum's having a party. It'll be pretty casual I think. Just loads of my family. Please!?" she batted her eyelids a little.

"Oh ok then," agreed Gail, "but you owe me!" Gail laughed.

"Doesn't this make us even? I went to the Frank and Nicole's wedding with you."

"Family parties are much worse than work weddings!" argued Gail

"I thought that you hated weddings. All the people laughing and caring." countered Holly.

"I hate families more!" Gail explained.

A few hours later, Gail and Holly were standing in front of the door of a large suburban house. Gail tugged at her dress, more nervous than she would care to admit. Holly noticed this and covered Gail's hand with her own for a second, before taking it away again and knocking on the door. Just seconds later the door opened and a tall, slim man with short dark hair opened the door. "Hol" he said as a greeting, giving Holly a big hug. When he pulled away, Gail smiled at him,

"Jacob I assume," she said, thinking back to the list of people that Holly had told her about when they had been getting ready, "I'm Gail." Jacob stood back to let them enter the house,

"Lovely to meet you Gail," he said, looking sideways at Holly with a small grin on his face, "Come through to the kitchen." He gestured down the hallway.

Holly's parents' kitchen was large, warm and homely. The worktops and cabinets were made of rustic wood and there was a delicious smell of fresh bread and something garlic-y. One wall was made up entirely of glass panels, two of which had been slid along to open up the luscious green garden where there were quite a few adults talking, and a little girl playing with a large golden retriever. Holly's mum was at the stove, stirring away at a pan, when they entered the room, but as soon as she saw Holly she rushed over and enveloped her in a tight, warm hug. "Hello dear. It's wonderful to see you. You've been so busy recently. I hope you're taking care of yourself. You look well though," she said, kissing her daughter on the cheek, then standing back to appraise how well Holly looked, "Did you manage to bring a dessert?" Holly kissed her mother back on the cheek and then gestured to the bowl of fruit salad that Gail was holding, arms outstretched.

"It's quite basic I'm afraid but we didn't have much time…" Holly started, but her mum interrupted, her eyes light up and she smiled widely

"Oh! Holly! I didn't know you were bringing someone!" she relieved Gail of the bowl and placed it on the counter, then, much to Gail's surprise, wrapped Gail in a similarly bear-like hug. Gail just stood there, completely taken aback; Holly tried, and failed, to keep a straight face. As she laughed Gail gave her an icy glare.

"Mum this is Gail," Holly said, "a friend from work." She emphasised the word 'friend'. "Gail this is my mum, Miriam."

"Urm, hi," said Gail, weakly.

"And that's my sister Leah and our cousin Sadie," pointed out Holly.

"Hi there!" greeted the two younger girls, almost simultaneously. They looked like they could have been twins. They both had long blonde hair, Leah's was straight like Holly's, Sadie's had tight ringlets. They had incredibly similar faces; you could see the family resemblance between them and Holly, but Sadie and Leah looked even more alike. Holly had said that the two girls had been almost inseparable since they were tiny. Leah was a lot younger than Holly and their brother Jacob, but her and Sadie were born just a few days apart, they went through school together and last year they started up their business - a bakery - together; now they were both excitedly planning Sadie's wedding. Holly rolled her eyes when she saw the spread of bridal magazines covering half the table, Gail laughed at her reaction.

Initially Gail was rather quiet, staying as close to Holly as she could; but after a couple of hours she was sitting at the garden table with Holly's brother Jacob, his 3 year old daughter Becki was sitting on her lap. Holly was sitting at the kitchen table with Sadie and Leah, she couldn't help but watch Gail through the window. Sadie and Leah saw the smile on Holly's face, "Are you sure that you and Gail aren't a couple?" Sadie asked, teasingly,

"Because you're looking at her like she's your girlfriend," continued Leah,

"And from what she told us earlier about her own family, coming to a family gathering like this is a pretty big deal for her so she must really like you!" said Sadie, her tone slightly more serious than before. Holly sighed and for a moment she just silently watched Gail who was bouncing Becki on her knee, causing the little girl to laugh in that way that only little children can.

"She's straight." said Holly, quietly and simply. Sadie and Leah looked at each other, then at Holly, then through the window at Gail.

"Have you seen the way she looks at you?" Leah asked

"Straight girls don't look at other girls like that," agreed Sadie. Holly raised her eyebrows at them, then she looked out at Gail again, then she pulled one of the bridal magazines towards her and changed the subject.

Holly couldn't cope with the discussion about dresses and flowers and place settings for very long so she wandered outside. She subconsciously stroked Gail's shoulder as she pulled over a chair to sit with them. Becki was now sitting on the grass playing with Tuko, Holly's parents' dog; Tuko was being very patient with the young girl who was trying to put daisy chains on his head. Gail and Jacob were swapping work stories. Gail told Jacob about a big drugs bust that she helped with, and Jacob regaled her with his favourite examples of stupid questions from his students. He was a high school science teacher, his wife Rita was the school psychologist. Although she would never admit it, Holly was slightly jealous of her brother and his life. Holly's career was going great, she loved her job, but Jacob and Rita had such an idyllic family life. They lived in a nice, detached house; they had a beautiful little daughter; they were planning to get a puppy soon; they had done it all 'right'. Jacob was only a year older than Holly but it felt like his life was in a much more grown up place than hers. Holly had completely phased out, she wasn't listening to the conversations around her, when Becki tapped on her knee and presented her with a daisy chain crown, "For aunty Hol," she said. When Holly looked around she noticed that Jacob already had a ring of flowers draped wonkily over his head, she laughed and lowered her head so that Becki could 'crown' her. Then Becki ran clumsily back to the patch of grass where she'd been sitting, picked up another daisy crown and ran over to Gail, "For aunty Gail," she said. All three of the adults looked completely shocked, unsure how to react. Gail looked at Holly, then at Jacob, she didn't know whether she should day something or not. Jacob shrugged at her, implying that he was ok with it, and Holly reacted similarly, so Gail let Becki crown her. From just inside the door they all just about heard Sadie say to Leah, "See, they are totally a couple."

Gail ended up playing catch with Becki, which kind of turned into both of them playing fetch and chase with Tuko because every time they dropped the ball he would pick it up and run off. Holly was still sitting with her brother, and their mum had joined them. They were all watching Gail, Becki and Tuko, smiling at their laughter. "Gail's great," said Jacob, "Becki's really taken with her." Gail had picked the little girl up and was spinning her around, Becki was laughing and screaming excitedly.

"Yeah," said Holly, quietly, still watching them play, "She's great." She paused for a moment. "I don't get it though. She says that she doesn't like people. And all of her friends think she's cold and harsh, but she's not; she can be so warm, and kind, and funny, and sweet; she cries at movies and she's amazing with kids. I get why Becki likes her so much, so quickly. I felt like that after just a few hours."

"Oh sweetie," sighed Holly's mum, reaching out and taking her daughter's hand, "You've fallen hard haven't you." Holly looked at her with a sad smile but didn't say anything.


	3. Green-eyed monster

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the Rookie Blue characters or storylines. I'm just messing around with them.

**Paring:** Gail x Holly (Officer Lunchbox)

**Rating:** T

**Summary:** Gail gets drunk while Holly is on a date in 4x12

Chris held Gail's hair back as she retched into the toilet bowl again. She groaned and rested her head on the seat; it was cold and soothing on her cheek. Chloe came in with a glass of water and handed it to her. She held it for a few seconds before Chloe told her to drink it, then she did, all in one go, and then she threw up again. She slumped against the cool toilet bowl and closed her eyes for a few minutes, trying to stop the room from spinning. "Come on Gail," said Chris, taking her arm, "I think it's time that you go to bed." Gail turned her head towards him but kept her eyes closed to prevent the spinning.

"You, my dear Christopher, are correct." She rambled drunkenly, prodding the air - she was probably trying to poke Chris but she missed. Chris and Chloe looked at each other, then each took one of Gail's arms, counted to three, and lifted her off the floor. They had to guide her quite forcefully to her bedroom because she wanted to wander into the kitchen, but they managed to get her into her room and sitting down on the bed. Chris knelt down to untie her shoes, while Chloe rummaged around for some pyjamas. When Chris stood up Gail reached over and grabbed his belt buckle, fiddling with it to try and get it undone. "Woah! No! No Gail! No!" said Chris, startled but forcefully. He gently pushed Gail away so that she was laying on her back on the bed, her feet still on the floor. Chris backed away from the bed, unsure of how to react, then Chloe put the t-shirt and shorts that she had found in one of the drawers onto the bed next to Gail. Gail grabbed the clothes and wrapped her arms around them like a three year old with a teddy bear, then instantly fell fast asleep. Chris gently lifted up Gail's legs and Chloe helped him to turn her around and set her legs down on the bed. Then they tiptoed carefully out of her room, turning off the light and softly closing the door. Dov was waiting for them in the front room.

"How much did she drink?" Dov asked in disbelief as Chloe sat down next to him on the sofa, with Chris taking the chair.

"A lot." Said Chris, simply, "Way too much!" They all nodded in agreement.

"Why?" asked Chloe. The boys looked at her questioningly. "Why did she drink that much? Did something happen? She isn't normally like that." They all looked at each other, unsure of the answer.

_Gail kept her eyes on Holly and her 'date' as she downed her drink. That girl wasn't even pretty. And what was with that woollen jumper? That's not the kind of thing you wear on a date unless you are a real weirdo. She was clearly a freak. What was Holly doing? "Gail?" she heard Dov say, he'd clearly been trying to get her attention, "What is that Capital of Bolivia?" Gail raised her eyebrows at him, _

_"Fred." She said maliciously._

_"Fred?" asked Chris, "You're guessing that Fred is a capital city?" Gail didn't grace him with an answer, she just stood up, almost knocking over her chair as she did._

_"I'm getting another drink." She said, then she marched over to the bar, throwing a glare over to Holly who was laughing with her date. She ordered herself a shot of tequila and downed it immediately, just as Chris came up and sat on the stool next to her.  
"Are you ok?" he asked, clearly concerned. Gail just raised two fingers to the barman who poured another two tequila shots. She passed one to Chris but he refused so she drank them both, one after another. "Woah, slow down Gail," said Chris, "What is up with you?"_

_"Let's dance!" shouted Gail a bit too loudly and strangely enthusiastically. She pulled the hair tie out of her ponytail, allowing her hair to hang loosely around her shoulders. She leapt off the barstool and ran back to the table that Dov and Chloe were still sitting at, shaking her hair violently to the music - which wasn't the kind of music that you dance crazily to. She pulled Chloe off Dov's lap and shouted at her to dance. Chloe looked a little freaked out and glanced at Dov, but she very unenthusiastically started swaying her hips. Then Gail grabbed Chris' hand and yanked him around to make him dance. Most of the patrons in the bar were watching them now, bemused about what was going on, this included Holly and her date. Concern flashed across Holly's face, while the girl she was with just gave a look of utter distain. Gail watched them as she danced, and then downed another two successive tequila shots. Chris, Dov and Chloe then pulled her back into her seat and tried to calm her down and get her to drink some water. Instead she started rambling about a cat stuck in a tree, and then she suddenly rushed into the bathroom, her hand clasped over her mouth, and threw up. _

Chris, Dov and Chloe were watching TV with the volume turned down low, when Chris' phone rang, startling them all. "Hello, is this Chris?" a female voice said.

"Yes. Who's this?"

"It's Holly. Holly Stewart. Gail's urm…friend," she said, "Is she ok?" He could hear the concern in her voice. "I saw her at the Penny. Is she alright?" she repeated.

"She's fine." Chris reassured her, "She might be feeling rough tomorrow, but she's fine."

"Oh great." Holly's relief was clear, even over the phone, "Thank you. Thank you so much."  
"You're welcome," he replied, "Goodbye."

"Yes, bye." She hung up the phone.

Holly let the phone fall to the floor and flopped down onto the sofa, relieved that Gail was alright. Holly's head was buzzing, she didn't know what to feel. Earlier in the week Holly had had dinner with her friend Mae who she knew from med school. Towards the end of the evening Mae had pointed out that Holly had mentioned Gail in almost every conversation; she could tell that Holly was completely smitten with her. Mae knew what it was like to fall for a straight girl, so she set Holly up with someone she had met through work. Holly had tried to say no, but Mae had pestered her so much that she finally gave in. The girl, Zara, was nice, sweet, but nothing special. They chatted about their work and told funny stories about Mae, but there was no spark. To be honest, although she didn't want to admit it, Holly had spent most of the night watching Gail, and Zara had clearly picked up on that. The date had ended awkwardly, not long after the others had taken Gail home, and Holly wasn't planning to see Zara again. When she got home her first instinct was to call Gail, but having seen the state she was in earlier, she decided against it, instead she decided to call one of the rookies that lived with her. She had to call quite a few people from the lab and 15 division before she found someone who could give her Chris Diaz's number. Knowing that Gail was alright was a relief for her. She also felt weirdly pleased that Gail had got so drunk. It was because Gail was jealous wasn't it? It had to be.


	4. Pizza Cures Everything

**Here's part 4. Let me know what you think! :) **

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the Rookie Blue characters or storylines. I'm just messing around with them.

**Paring:** Gail x Holly (Officer Lunchbox)

**Rating:** K

**Summary:** Set after Holly picks up Gail from the Hospital in 4x10

"So you're ok?" asked Holly, concerned, as they sat in her car in the hospital parking lot.

"Yeah, can we get pizza? I really feel like having pizza. I think the painkillers made me hungry. Do they do that?" Gail babbled. Holly looked her and laughed a little.

"There's Nicolo's pizza place around the corner from my apartment?" Holly suggested, pulling out of the parking space.

"So I guess we're going back to yours then." Said Gail. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Gail regularly wandered over to the forensics lab after her shift ended and then they went back to Holly's place and had dinner together. On the nights when they opened a bottle of wine (sometimes two), Gail slept in Holly's guest bedroom, it was all very domestic. They'd even babysat Becki together a few times when Jacob and Rita needed a night off. Becki was completely enamoured with Gail; the two of them would sit on the rug in Holly's front room, doing a big, children's jigsaw while Holly was cooking dinner. Other nights, Holly and Gail would watch a movie together, or just sit up really late talking and laughing. Holly wondered if all of Gail's friendships were like this, because for Holly, this was more intense than a simple friendship. When Gail wasn't there, Holly's apartment felt too quiet, empty; whenever her lab tech told a ludicrously terrible joke, Holly's first instinct was to text Gail about it. When Gail had called her from the hospital, it took Holly a while to work out what was going on because Gail just kept asking her to get her away from the freaky elephant. It wasn't until a nurse came on the line and explained that Gail had injured her wrist and needed picking up from the hospital, that Holly understood what was going on. She felt her stomach drop momentarily, but the nurse reassured her that Gail was perfectly fine, her wrist would be bandaged for a few days but she would be ok.

"Andy and Nick are sleeping together." Gail said, out of the blue as they were driving away from the hospital. Holly was a bit taken aback. She didn't know a huge deal about Gail's relationships with the other rookies, she knew that her and Nick had been engaged, and she knew that the rookies were all like a slightly dysfunctional family, but she didn't know how Gail would react to this news. She looked at her quickly, trying to gauge her reaction without taking her eyes off the road for too long. Gail shrugged. "I'm not jealous or anything. I'm just kind of mad at Andy," she said, "She's supposed to be my friend. Friends don't date friend's exes."

"Is that what you two were fighting about in the hospital?" Holly asked.

"Yeah." Said Gail, "But I think I just needed to yell at her. She feels pretty bad about it so that's good." They sat in silence for a few moments, neither of them quite sure what to say. But then Gail pointed out an awful pun on a billboard they started laughing and the awkwardness was immediately broken; they were back to their normal selves.

When they arrived back at Holly's, Holly carried in Gail's bag and the pizza because Gail's wrist was still sore. The first thing that Gail did when they got in was changed out of her uniform and into her pyjamas - it said a lot about Holly and Gail's closeness that Gail had a pair of pyjamas at Holly's, although technically it was an old pair of Gail's shorts and one of Holly's t-shirts that Gail had appropriated. When she went back into the front room, Holly was already sitting on the sofa, two glasses of juice and the pizza sitting on the coffee table in front of her, the tv screen showing the play menu of a Doctor Who DVD box set. Holly loved Doctor Who, she was a real nerd, and Gail used to always tease her about it, until Holly had sat her down and made her watch 'Rose' and now Gail, although she would never admit it to her friends, was hooked on the show.

Gail's tiredness suddenly hit her and she curled up on the sofa, pressed play on the DVD remote, took the slice of pizza that Holly was passing her, then snuggled up with her friend, resting her head on Holly's shoulder. A few minutes later Holly looked over and Gail was fast asleep. Holly just sat there watching her for a few minutes. She looked so peaceful, so sweet, so beautiful; she just couldn't take her eyes away so she turned the volume of the TV down and wrapped her arm around Gail, allowing her to sleep.

When Gail woke up the first thing she noticed was the pain in her wrist, but when she opened her eyes she was disorientated. It took her a few seconds to realise where she was - still on Holly's sofa - and that she was all curled up with Holly who was fast asleep. She stayed still for a moment, enjoying the intimacy with her friend. Gail was a bit confused by her friendship with Holly, it wasn't like any of her other friendships. Gail could talk to Holly in a way that she couldn't with her other friends; she could be emotional without feeling vulnerable; she could really be herself without feeling judged; she could let down her guard. She watched Holly sleeping for a few minutes more, then the pain in her wrist got really bad so she carefully extracted herself from Holly's arms, trying not to wake her, and went to the kitchen to take the tablets that the doctor had given her. She was making a pot of coffee and some toast, when she felt Holly's chin rest on her shoulder and her arms wrap around her waist. Gail didn't quite know how to react to this. It felt nice, she had to admit, but it was a bit weird having her friend act like this, especially as Gail was already a little confused by this relationship. She breathed in deeply and slowly, she could smell Holly, mixed with coffee, it was such a homely, comforting smell. "I made breakfast," said Gail, unsure of what else to say. Holly looked over at the utterly blackened toast sitting on a plate. She laughed.

"What are we having? Charcoal?" she teased. Gail turned around and pulled a pouty face. Holly laughed, shaking her head. "I'll make pancakes," she offered, taking a sip of coffee, "This is good though!" she nodded at the steaming mug.

While Holly cooked, Gail sat at the counter watching her. They talked a little but mostly they were quiet. Holly turned on the radio. She commented to Gail about something that the newsreader had just said, but Gail didn't reply, she hadn't been paying attention. Holly turned to her and noticed that Gail's face was suddenly blushing red. "Are you ok?" Holly asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," said Gail quietly, "I'm just going to the bathroom." She scuttled quickly out of the kitchen, leaving Holly a little confused. In the bathroom Gail splashed water over her face, trying to keep the bandage on her wrist from getting wet, then she stared at herself in the mirror. 'What are you doing?' she asked herself, 'You can't look at Holly like that. You can't think about Holly like that. You're not a lesbian. Am I?' she splashed more water on her face and looked up again, watching the water droplets roll down her face like tears, 'I can't be falling for her. I can't!'


	5. You Kissed Me?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the Rookie Blue characters or storylines. I'm just messing around with them.

**Paring:** Gail x Holly (Officer Lunchbox)

**Rating:** K+

**Summary:** Holly and Gail talk after the kiss in 4x12

Gail's phone buzzed.

**H:** Have you got time to meet me for lunch? We need to talk! H x

**G:** I can take 30 mins. But itll have to be close to the station. It's crazy here. x

**H:** The cafe across the road at 1:30? x

**G:** No. The coffee shop round the corner. x

**H:** Ok x

"How are things at the station?" asked Holly as they sat down at one of the 3 small tables dotted around the little café with their sandwiches and coffee.

"Insane." said Gail, reaching down to check that her belt radio was on in case she was needed at work. "Oliver and I just got a silent 911 call, but it turned out to just be a mute girl who's granddad had collapsed."

"You went in?" said Holly, panicked, "When there could have been a cop-hungry gunman inside! Are you crazy?!" She looked really scared and so Gail let her reach across the table and grab her hand, squeezing it for reassurance.

"Holly I'm a cop. We talked about this earlier. I'll be careful but I have to do my job. Please can we talk about something else." Gail begged. Work had been stressful enough today without Holly freaking out. Holly was reluctant to let it drop, she was really worried, but she could see how stressed Gail was so she said,

"Well… You kissed me?" It was phrased like a question. Gail blushed, then looked down and her hand, which was still holding Holly's. Then she glanced around the shop - there were no other customers, and the barista was cleaning down the counter, her back turned - she leaned across the table and kissed Holly again. It was slow, soft, meaningful; it made both of their heads spin and they were both smiling when they pulled apart. Holly raised her eyebrows, unsure about what all this meant. Gail hesitated, she had never been great at talking about her feelings.

"I miss you." she said. Holly looked confused.

"I'm right here" she said, unsure of what Gail meant, squeezing her hand again.

"When I'm not with you - the nights that I stay at my apartment with Dov and Chris - I miss you." Gail said, strongly, but too embarrassed to look Holly in the eyes. A huge smile swept across Holly's face. "I miss eating dinner with you, I miss watching TV with you, I miss you complaining about me leaving wet puddles on the bathroom floor after I've had a shower, I miss the way your house smells, I miss seeing you. Oh, I'm so stupid!" Gail buried her face in her hands, her face still red. Holly reached up and gently pulled Gail's hands away from her face, holding her both her hands, stroking the back of them with her thumbs. Then Gail's voice went really quiet, barely above a whisper, "I didn't realise that I was falling for you until I had fallen." Although she said this quietly she said it while looking directly into Holly's eyes. Holly's smile widened.

"I realised that I was falling for you straight away." Holly said softly, smiling. She leaned over and gave Gail another tender kiss. "In fact, everyone noticed that I was falling for you. My sister and Sadie have been teasing me about it mercilessly." Gail smiled.

"I've never fallen for a woman before," she said, timidly.

"I've never fallen for a Gail Peck before," countered Holly, grinning, "Every relationship is different. The fact that we're both female isn't a big deal, I promise. People are just people in the end." Gail took a moment to absorb this statement, then she looked up at Holly and smiled.

"So we're doing this?" she asked.

"We are doing this!" replied Holly, grinning. They met in the middle of the table for a kiss. The barista saw them this time, she just smiled and went back to work.

"So..." said Gail, mysteriously, "Tell me about this girl."

"What girl?" asked Holly,

"The one from last night." Holly looked sheepish.

"I am so sorry. Mae set it up. She thought it would be good for me to get my mind off well... you." Gail smiled and blushed. "She was nice, but just not you." said Holly.

"I got really drunk that night," Gail confessed.

"I know," said Holly, "I saw. And I spoke to Chris once he'd taken you home." Gail was surprised by this.

"You called Chris?"

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure you were ok." Gail was really moved by this.

"I felt like shit when I woke up but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I think they made me drink a lot of water before I went to bed, and I vomited out most of the contents of my stomach." Holly pulled a face. "Sorry, that was too much information." They both laughed.

Holly's speech was interrupted by a crackly voice coming from Gail's radio. She unclipped it from her belt and listened to the message then responded that she was on her way.

"They want everyone back at the station for a briefing. I've got to go. I'm really sorry." She said, standing up and tidying up the crockery on their table.

"That's ok," said Holly sweetly. She stood up too and walked with Gail out of the shop. Outside the door they had to go opposite ways, the lab was in one direction and the station was in the other. Gail opened her mouth to say goodbye, but Holly wrapped her arms around Gail's waist, pulling her close, then kissed her. They both melted into the kiss, savouring it. Gail's hands slid around Holly's waist, up her back and into her hair, she moaned softly into Holly's mouth. Their mouths pulled apart slowly but they stayed in their embrace. "Goodbye princess. Stay safe. I will see you after your shift." Holly said before kissing the smile that was covering Gail's face.

"See you later," Gail said back. They kissed one more time before parting ways and going back to their respective jobs, both carrying beaming smiles on their faces.

**I hope you're enjoying this. Let me know what you think! Feel free to suggest prompts for future chapters. :) x**


	6. The Morning After

**Sorry that it's been a while since the last update. I've got about 6 more chapters of this story partially written so there is more to come I promise! Let me know what you think about it.**

**Summary:** Set the morning after the 5x01.

"How are you feeling princess?" asked Holly, kissing the forehead of the blonde, bleary-eyed, woman who had just woken up in her bed. Gail groaned, burying her head in the pillow. Her head was throbbing and everything was spinning. "Not feeling very princess-like by the looks of it," empathised Holly sweetly; gently stroking the newly short hair on the back of Gail's head. With the other hand she reached over to the cabinet beside the bed and picked up two small, white pills and a glass of water. "Take these sweetie," she said, gently rolling Gail onto her back and handing the medicine and water to her. Gail groaned again but then swallowed the tablets and drank almost the whole glass of water in one go, her eyes squinting at the light in the bedroom. The noise that Gail made when Holly mentioned breakfast made it clear that food was not a good idea yet, so Holly carefully pulled the blankets over her girlfriend, turned off the lamp, and kissed her softly on the lips, before quietly leaving the room, shutting the door as silently as she could.

Several hours later, Holly was sitting at the breakfast bar typing up some work notes on her laptop when she heard the shower running which signalled that Gail had got out of bed. Earlier that morning Holly had called the lab to say that she would be doing paperwork from home all day; then she'd used Gail's mobile to call Chris to ask how Chloe and Sam were doing - both awake, both looking as good as could be expected; then she'd made a large pot of coffee and some waffles, and sat down to work. When she heard Gail get into the shower, she put on a fresh pot of coffee and set to making more waffles. When Gail emerged from the bathroom, wearing a short blue robe, her short hair dark, wet, and messy from the shower, she was looking considerably brighter than she had earlier, but that wasn't saying much. She sat down heavily, in front of the plate of food that Holly had made for her, and stared at it for a few seconds until Holly passed her a cup of coffee and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. Gail took a long drink of the coffee then leaned over and gave Holly a deep, grateful kiss. "Sam and Chloe are both doing alright. Chloe had a bit of a scare but she's doing much better. Dov and Andy got held-up in the diner by the hospital but they're both fine. Don't worry. Frank has given you today off, but he really needs as many of you as possible to go in tomorrow. I've got today off too so I'm planning to fuss over you all day." Holly explained, standing beside Gail and stroking her back.

"Thank you Holly," said Gail, seriously, leaning back into Holly's body, "What would I do without you?"

After Gail had eaten, they settled down on the sofa, Holly managed to balance her laptop and paperwork in such a way that she could do her work while Gail dozed, resting her head on Holly's shoulder. Gail had been napping for most of the morning, last night's bourbon still hanging over her, but all of a sudden she started yelling and flailing her arms around. Holly pushed her work onto the coffee table then tightly wrapped her arms around Gail, "Shhhh. It's ok. You're alright. You're safe." Gail woke up, disorientated, breathing heavily and holding on to Holly. She continued panicking for a few seconds before she got her bearings and her breath started to come easier and she nuzzled into Holly's neck. Holly gave her a few moments to calm down, stroking her back and whispering reassurances to her, before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?" Gail rolled onto her back and rested her head on her girlfriend's lap, then was silent for a second before starting to talk, softly, almost a whisper,

"They got shot. They could have died. Oliver was abducted..." Holly couldn't hear anything else she said because had Gail buried herself in Holly's chest, she could feel her tears and heavy breathing. She didn't know what to do so she just sat there, holding Gail tightly, still stroking her back and telling her that everything would be ok.

They stayed like that for a long time, even after Gail's sobs had subsided, but they were interrupted by Gail's phone ringing. It made them both jump. Holly looked at Gail, silently asking if she should answer it, but Gail reached over and picked the phone up, untangling herself from Holly's hold and standing up. "Hello." She answered. She listened for a moment then mouthed at Holly, who was looking at her expectantly, telling her that it was Chris. Holly listened to Gail's side of the conversation. "…good…great…What about Dov?...And Andy?...No, I'm at Holly's…I'm fine. I'm good," she smiled as she said this, looking over at Holly, "…I'm not sure, maybe a couple of days?...I'll let you know…Yeah…I hope everyone's alright…ok…yes…you too…bye." She put the phone down on the side table then leaned in and kissed Holly. "Everyone's ok." She said, "They'll both be in hospital for a while longer, but they're fine."

"Good," said Holly, smiling, and kissing Gail again, "And you can stay here for as long as you want. I know that the apartment can be a bit crazy." Gail's eyes said the thank yous that her voice didn't. Holly smiled at Gail's face and pulled her onto her lap, caressing her face gently, then kissing her passionately, her fingers brushing through Gail's new haircut, Gail's arms winding around her waist, her hands running up and down Holly's back. "Thank you," said Gail quietly when they pulled apart. Holly just smiled and kissed her again.


	7. You Never Know!

**Gail and Holly go for dinner with Steve and Traci. Enjoy! Let me know what you think!**

**Edit: Thanks to mementomori8 for pointing out my Steve/Chris mix-ups, ****I think I've sorted it now.** I really shouldn't try and write more than one chapter at a time, it confuses my brain! .  


"No!" said Gail sternly. She had been standing in the hallway of 15 division, having just got arrived for her morning shift, when her brother had cornered her.

"We're having dinner tonight." he said, firmly. Gail raised her eyebrows at him. "No arguments. You, Holly, Me, and Traci. I've booked a table at d'veitzos for 8 o'clock."

"No!" said Gail, harshly. "We are not going on a double date with you and Traci. No." Steve ignored her.

"I'll pick the two of you up from Holly's at 7:45," he said as he rushed down the corridor back up to guns and gangs. Gail rolled her eyes; there was no way she was going. Even though it was still the very beginning of her shift, Gail was already looking forward to snuggling down on the sofa with her girlfriend with reheated plates of the lasagne that they had cooked together on Sunday. She really didn't want to go for a posh dinner at some classy restaurant with her brother and his girlfriend. It's not that she didn't like spending time with Steve - ok well, maybe it was partially because of that. They had grown up together in their parents' house; they had both experienced the same pressures and expectations, regimes and restrictions; they had both made it through but they had not got out unscathed. Steve and Holly didn't really talk to each other about emotions, feelings or relationships, they acknowledged each other at the station and, when they had to have a conversation, they mainly talked about work; going for dinner would just be awkward. Gail started mentally planning excuses as she went into the locker room; she was glad that she didn't bump into Traci in there, she knew that Traci would try and persuade her that dinner was a good idea.

Holly was ordering her lunch from the cafeteria at the lab when she felt the comforting warmth of Gail's presence behind her. Before she even had a chance to turn her head, Gail slipped her arms around Holly's waist, leaned in to kiss her on the neck, then moved to whisper in her ear, "I love you." Holly's face lit up so much that it made the cafeteria worker smile. Holly blushed at the elderly woman's reaction, but she smiled, she loved how special Gail made her feel.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Holly asked her girlfriend.

"Ooh, yes please," said Gail excitedly. She grabbed a chicken wrap from the display cooler and put it down next to Holly's salad. Holly paid for the meals then extracted herself from Gail's embrace so that they could find a table to sit at. Holly pulled out a chair for Gail. "Nerd." Said Gail, smiling and leaning up to kiss Holly. The two of them had quickly become a regular feature in the lab cafeteria; Gail liked to made the short walk from 15 division to the lab most lunchtimes and sometimes, if Gail was working a late shift, they would have dinner together there before Gail went to work and Holly went home.

As soon as they started eating, Gail started complaining.; she'd been on traffic with Nick all morning and so she had a lot to complain about. Holly listened patiently, agreeing when necessary and saying all the right things at all the right points, but really she was just watching Gail admiringly. She loved the way she talked, the intonation in her voice, the faces that she pulled that totally described her feelings. Suddenly she remembered something, "Oh your brother sent me a message inviting us for dinner tonight." Gail's face dropped.

"No. Please, no," she begged, "Please don't make me go! I just want the two of us to curl up on the sofa. Please. Dinner with Steve and Traci will just be awkward and boring." Gail batted her eyelashes and Holly rolled her eyes.

"He's your brother Gail. And he's booked a table at a really nice restaurant. Traci's your friend, it won't be that bad!" Gail pouted but Holly just smiled at her. "We'll go to dinner with Steve and Traci, and then we can go back to mine and have some Gail and Holly time. How about that?" Gail raised an eyebrow, interested by Holly's suggestion. She looked at her for a minute, debating her response, then just leaned across the table and kissed her. Holly smiled triumphantly, she knew that not many people would be able to persuade Gail to do something that she didn't want to do, she felt privileged to be one of the few.

Holly was pleased to see that Gail's car was in her drive when she arrived back from work. She put her keys and handbag on the kitchen counter when she walked in, then she went to find Gail, hoping that she was in a good mood because Steve would be around to pick them up in about 40 minutes. She looked through her open bedroom door to see a glorious sight. Her large double bed was strewn with clothes and in the middle of the piles of crumpled fabric Gail was lying, spread out, in just her underwear, clutching a black blouse to her face in despair. Holly stood there for a few seconds admiring the view; it wasn't until Holly started to chuckle that Gail noticed that she was there.

"You're not allowed to laugh!" said Gail stroppily, "It was you that said we had to go to this stupid dinner at some stupid posh restaurant and I have nothing to wear!" she rolled over and buried her head in the pile of clothes. Holly laughed and walked over to the bed, flopping down next to Gail then reached over and started tickling her waist. Gail laughed and thrashed around manically, almost kicking Holly off the bed. Holly rolled over to her, kissed up her back and around her neck. Gail gave a satisfied sigh then turned her head to kiss her, pushing some of the crumpled clothes onto the floor. They lay on the bed kissing for a while until Holly pushed herself up off the bed then went over to the wardrobe which was half empty because Gail had already scattered most of its contents all over the room. Gail groaned. "Pleeeease can we just stay in." Holly simply shook her head, crouching down to rifle through the mounds of clothes now lying on the floor.

Gail was still sitting on the bed complaining when Steve rang the buzzer on the door. Holly went to let him in because she was fully dressed - cream and black tailored suit with a green blouse and black patent heels - whereas Gail was still wearing just a shirt and underwear. Holly and chatted pleasantly in the hallway for a few minutes while Gail got ready. Holly called into the bedroom to tell her to be quick because Traci was waiting in the car. A few moments later Gail emerged, finally ready, wearing a simple navy shirtdress that accentuated her silhouette and showed off her legs; her makeup was simple and barely there; her hair was gelled slightly. Even though Holly truly believed that Gail looked breathtakingly beautiful even in a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants, she couldn't help but smile when she saw her girlfriend all dressed up. She kissed her on the cheek then whispered into her ear, "You are so beautiful." Gail blushed a little but then took Holly's hand. She stuck out her tongue at Steve instead of a greeting. He rolled his eyes.

"I know that you two want to just lock yourselves away from the world and have fun, but sometimes you have to socialise with other people!" he teased, knowing it would annoy his sister. He was right! She punched him on the arm, a bit harder than a normal person would, but they were both cops, they were tough.

When they arrived at the restaurant Gail was in two minds about whether to grab Hollys hand or not, and Holly could read this. Gail had been complaining all day about how boring this meal would be, but in the car ride over Holly noticed that Gail was a lot more nervous than she was letting on. Gail really wanted to hold Holly's hand for support, but she was still quite new to being 'out' in public. In situations where a straight couple holding hands would go completely unnoticed, a same-sex couple would attract looks of stares and glances. It was something that Holly was used to by now - she'd been out since she was 15 - but it still made Gail uncomfortable, so Holly allowed Gail to lead any PDA. Gail eventually decided that she would hold Holly's hand, she was a cop, she was brave, so she could hold her girlfriend's hand in public and deal with the looks that people gave. This delighted Holly and made her stomach flutter with joy.

It took until the starters were being cleared away until Gail relaxed. Up until then, she had been awkward and edgy, snapping at Steve for being indecisive about what to order, and not really contributing to the conversation. Holly kept reaching across under the table and squeezing her hand or stroking her leg to reassure her, and finally that paid off when, after the waitress had cleared away their empty starter dishes, Gail turned to look at Holly, smiled at her, then gave her a tiny peck on the lips. A few minutes later when their mains arrived, Gail was being her normal, wonderful self - well at least the self that Holly saw, other people often weren't quite as lucky. Steve was really surprised to see the way his sister was acting, she was making jokes - ones that weren't cruel - she was smiling and laughing, she looked happier and calmer than he had ever seen her.

Holly kept looking at Gail meaningfully, she nudged her on the arm; Gail looked at her questioningly, Holly nodded. Steve and Traci were confused by this silent conversation. Gail took a deep breath, "We've got some news," said Gail with a nervous smile. Steve and Traci looked at them expectantly. "Holly and I are moving in together. We've found a house, and we've had an offer accepted on it." Traci squeaked with excitement which made them all laugh, and a few other patrons of the restaurant look over. Steve grinned, it was great to see his sister maturing.

"Congratulations," he said, warmly, but then his face dropped, "Mum and Dad are going to be all proud that you're growing up and getting serious; then they'll pressure me about why I haven't done that yet." Gail raised her eyebrows.

"It's not like I've found myself a suitable husband, I'm pretty sure they won't be all that happy about it."

"You haven't told them yet?" Traci asked.

"I'm disappointment enough for them already, I don't want to give them another reason to disprove," said Gail sadly.

"But Holly's intelligent and well brought up" said Traci, "She's a doctor for heaven's sake - and you really love each other, isn't that what every parent wants for their child, surely gender is the least important thing." Gail and Steve just laughed at this.

"You don't know our parents." Steve said. Gail stopped laughing and sighed. Holly leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm sorry princess," she said, stroking the back of her hand.

On the way home Holly directed Steve so that they could slowly drive past their new house. It was late and the street was very quiet. "My goodness Gail, this is virtually suburban!" said Steve with surprise. Holly laughed,

"It was a lot easier than I expected to persuade her!" she said, laughing slightly.

"Well we've got to settle down somewhere nice," said Gail with a cheeky half-smile.

"Babies?" whispered Traci excitedly.

"You never know!" said Gail offhandedly, then she changed the subject, leaving the others hanging with their mouths wide open.


	8. Meeting the Family Pt2

**Someone requested a continuation of Chapter 2 so here you go. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think! **

When Holly had finished slicing the veg, she scraped it all into the wok that Gail was using, then slid behind Gail, placing her hands gently on her hips, and kissed her neck. Gail hummed, contently. "This smells incredible," said Holly quietly, which made Gail smile. Holly had been teaching Gail to cook for a while, because somehow Gail had managed to grow up being utterly inept at cooking, but now Gail was improving quickly. Tonight they were cooking dinner for some of Holly's family - her mum, her sister as well as her cousin and her fiancé. The timer bleeped, signalling that the cheesecake was ready; Holly removed her hands from around Gail's waist, brought it out - it looked fantastic - she delicately placed three sliced strawberries on top then put it in the fridge. After that she reached over to the stove and turned off the hob, Gail turned to her looking slightly confused, Holly put her hands back on her girlfriend's hips - facing her this time - leant in, and kissed her. They took their time, both enjoying the slow, meaningful kiss. Although Gail didn't technically live with Holly (yet!) they spent most of their time together, usually at Holly's apartment because they had it all to themselves. They found the domesticity of cooking and cleaning together rather romantic, and much more enjoyable than doing any of those things on their own. This, however, meant that they often got distracted. Chores would be started but they would end up in bed or on the sofa before anything got finished. Several times they had set off the fire alarm by forgetting to turn off the oven, but they had learnt from that mistake.

When Holly's sister Leah rang the doorbell, the table hadn't been laid, dinner wasn't finished, and Holly and Gail were making out intensely on the sofa. They quickly plumped up the squashed cushions, patted down their messy hair, and straightened their outfits, then opened the door. Leah and Sadie saw the other women's blushing faces and winked at each other before they, and Sadie's fiancé Peter, greeted them both with a hug, giving them a bottle of wine and a loaf of freshly made bread from their bakery. Just as Gail was pouring out drinks, the doorbell rang again, Holly answered it; it was her mum. Miriam rushed into the kitchen with a big smile and outstretched arms, enveloping Gail in a huge hug. Gail made a face at Holly over her shoulder. "How can I help?" asked Miriam, picking up the apron which had been discarded on the floor earlier when Gail and Holly had got 'distracted'. Holly firmly took the apron from her mother and handed her a glass of wine.

"No mum," she said, "We're fine. Dinner is almost ready. Go and sit down, all of you," she waved her hands in the direction of the living room; she had to physically guide her mother out of the kitchen. She kissed Gail again, briefly this time, before they went back to cooking.

The conversation at dinner flowed easily. Holly's family were so close and all got on so well that there were very few expectations or awkward moments. Unusually, it didn't take Gail long to relax, despite the fact that she didn't know any of them very well, they were all so friendly and they treated her like family. Gail was regaling them with a story about a time that she went undercover at a restaurant and accidently spilt a whole plate of spaghetti over a diner. Peter and Sadie had met when they were both waiters after high school so they had a few stories of their own to add to this, including the guy who used to tip them with little sketches on the back of napkins which they had thought was pretty stupid until they discovered that he was a big name in the art world; they now had a trio of these napkins framed on the wall of their lounge. At some point the topic changed to Gail and Holly's relationship, of course it was Leah that brought it up. "You guys are so cute!" she said. Both of them smiled and blushed. Embarrassed, Gail nuzzled her head into Holly's neck, kissing her on the shoulder. Sadie and Leah ahhh-ed, Miriam smiled, and Peter just rolled his eyes at their reaction, he could help from smiling too though. Suddenly Miriam leaned across the table and grabbed Gail's hand.

"Now Gail," she said, her tone more serious than usual, "You'll look after my little girl won't you." Holly rolled her eyes. Everyone was silent. Gail hesitated for a few seconds.

"Yes." Said Gail, quietly but resolutely, "Yes I will. Not that she needs looking after. To be honest, she does most of the looking after. But I won't hurt her. I promise. I love her." Sadie and Leah ahhh-ed again. Miriam looked satisfied. She squeezed Gail's hand then nodded at Holly.

"I most certainly approve." She said. Holly pulled a puzzled face.

"Since when have you given my girlfriends your formal approval?" she asked, not harshly.

"Gail's the first one I've really approved of." Miriam replied simply. Everyone at the table looked surprised by this. "Felicity was a little brat, Amber was boring, and Nisha just wasn't good enough for you." Holly started choking on her drink, coughing and spluttering in surprise. Gail, and everyone else looked a little uncomfortable. When Holly stopped coughing there was a brief moment of silence, everyone unsure about what to say next. All of a sudden Leah and Sadie simultaneously burst into laughter and soon everyone followed.

Peter had to leave straight after dinner, he was a nurse at the hospital and he had a night shift. As soon as he was gone, Sadie and Leah got out the wedding catalogues for some intense wedding planning. So far, despite their endless hours of planning, they had only decided on a venue, a colour scheme and a wedding dress, they still had to choose bridesmaids' dresses, flowers, decorations and so much more. The problem was that they were utterly unwilling to delegate any of the decisions to anyone else, they wanted input from everyone on everything, but overall Sadie and Leah wanted to make all of the decisions themselves. "Does Peter get any say in any of this?" asked Holly.

"He said that all he cares about is that I am there and I am happy." Said Sadie, an unbelievably big smile on her face.

"He's so sweet!" cooed Leah. Gail and Holly just looked at each other and laughed.

Very quickly everyone realised that both Gail and Holly were utterly useless at wedding planning. They enjoyed giving the most ridiculous suggestions, sometimes the others weren't sure whether they were being serious or simply obstreperous. "What's wrong with black?", "Why can't you have tiny pink elephants?", "You should have pizza!" were some of the ideas that they gave. They ended up sitting together curled up on the couch, watching the others list the pros and cons of peonies vs gardenias, and making sarcastic unhelpful comments. Whenever a finalised decision was added to Sadie's 'Wedding Mega-list', either Gail or Holly would get up an refill everyone's wineglasses.

Due to a combination of losing track of time and drinking a serious amount of wine, they decided that they would all stay over that night. Gail went to make up the bed in the spare room while Leah helped Holly make a pot of tea. "When are you going to ask her to move in with you?" Leah asked Holly quietly. Holly shrugged.

"She basically lives here anyway." She said. It was Leah's turn to roll her eyes.

"You know that's not the same thing. Asking her to move in is taking another step in your relationship. It's a commitment to each other. It's not just about where you spend the night." She explained to her sister. Despite the fact that Leah was the younger sibling, and currently the only single one, she had always been the relationship guru. She was great at helping others with their relationships; less good at her own. Holly didn't reply to this. She just looked thoughtful for a moment, then brought the tea into the living room.

The next morning Gail was the first person awake. She wasn't really a morning person but she often had to get up early for work so that's just the way her body clock was; she had also drunk the least wine out of everyone the night before because she hadn't wanted to make too much of a fool of herself in front of Holly's family. Holly was still sound asleep when Gail woke. She watched the rise and fall of her chest for a few moments, then gently got up, wrapping herself in a robe, then got in the shower. By the time that anyone else woke up, Gail was already making breakfast. She felt comfortable enough around Holly's family that she didn't feel the need to get dressed up, so she was cooking in a loose fitting tank-top and some shorts when Leah and Sadie emerged from the living room where they had slept. She poured them both some coffee and continued making pancakes while they chatted to her about their bakery. A few moments later Miriam joined them and insisted on helping with the breakfast, she bustled busily around the kitchen, cleaning up the mess that Gail had made. When Holly finally woke up she came into the kitchen, bleary-eyed, wrapped her hands around Gail's waist and whispered "Good morning beautiful," in her ear. Gail kissed her then passed her a plate of pancakes. "I am so glad I taught you how to cook these!" said Holly, kissing Gail back.

"You guys are too cute!" said Leah.


	9. A Childhood Friend

**Sorry that it's been a while, I've been unwell :(. I'm still working on some more chapters but I've not been feeling up to much writing. For this chapter I wanted to bring up the fact that we know Gail can sign. I hope you like my explanation.**

When Holly got back from work Gail, who had finished a few hours earlier, was tidying uncharacteristically. She was rearranging the cushions on the couch and kept moving things then moving them again, Holly couldn't tell if she was doing this because she was nervous or because she was excited. The doorbell rang and Gail jumped, looking startled for a split second before rushing to the door, flinging it open, squealing, and diving into a hug with the young woman on the other side of it. She was a small, slim woman with light, bushy hair that reached down to her waist; she had a green rolling suitcase standing next to her. The two women hugged emotionally for a minute, Holly hung back watching them. Gail didn't have many friends that she was as close to as Abi; they'd met on the first day of kindergarten and been best friends ever since. They'd been inseparable all through school but Abi had gone to university several hours away so they didn't get to see each other very often any more. Gail grabbed Abi's bag and shepherded her inside. She put the bag then signed something to Abi.

"Good thanks," replied Abi, signing as she talked, "The traffic was slow, but it only took 4 hours." Holly smiled but didn't really know what to do. Gail gestured to Holly and started signing again, Holly guessed that she was being introduced. Gail noticed that Holly was looking a bit uncomfortable so she spoke as she signed, realising that Holly was feeling left out of the conversation.

"Sorry sweetie," she said, "Abi this is Holly, Holly this is Abi."

"It's lovely to meet you." Holly said, but then she hesitated, unsure if saying that was the right thing. Abi smiled at her,

"It's ok," she said, "I can read lips pretty well. Gail and I just sign because when we were younger it was like our own secret language. We could talk in class or behind people's backs without people realising." Gail grinned cheekily.

One of the reasons that Gail and Abi were so close was that when they were in 5th grade Abi had caught an severe infection that had caused her to wind up in the hospital; she'd been very ill for several months and she ended up completely losing her hearing. Every day after school Gail would get the bus to the hospital and sit in Abi's room for a few hours, talking to her, or doing her homework. Once she heard that Abi was deaf, she'd borrowed a book on ASL from the school library and studied it avidly. She'd practiced on her own, with Abi, and with the social worker who was helping Abi to come to terms with her hearing loss. By the time Abi was ready to go back to school, the fact that Gail was now fluent in ASL was one of the main reasons that Abi was allowed to go back to her old school rather than to a specialist deaf school. Gail had never been the kind of girl who had lots of friends, but her and Abi really were best friends. Holly could see this by the way that the two women interacted. Gail was more relaxed and happy than anyone apart from Holly ever saw, she was laughing and smiling. Holly enjoyed watching her like this. She loved the way that Gail's hands moved like she wasn't even thinking about it; she loved the way that they laughed at their inside jokes.

"So what do you do Abi?" asked Holly as they were eating dinner, being careful to look at her so that Abi could read her lips.

"I'm studying for a doctorate in Computer Science," replied Abi. Holly looked impressed. Gail tapped Abi on the shoulder so that she could she her sign two fingers touching the space between her eyebrows. Abi laughed and Holly looked confused.

"Nerd." explained Gail, making Holly laugh.

"I'm working on my dissertation but it was driving me crazy so I thought I'd take a long weekend and come and visit my bestie." Abi nudged Gail.

"Well I've got the next three days off," Gail said and signed, "Holly has to work tomorrow but then she has a few days off. What do you want to do?"

"Well actually," Holly interrupted, "Jacob was wondering if we could take Becki on Saturday."

"Sure!" said Gail happily, "Becki is Holly's three year old niece. She's adorable!" she explained to Abi, "Well how about me and Abi go to the Eaton centre tomorrow so that we can go shopping without boring Holly too much. Then we could take Becki to the zoo the next day,"

"Ooh, we could go to that cute animal print restaurant next to the zoo. Is that still there?" suggested Abi.

"Oh my gosh, I'd forgotten about that place. Do you remember that time we went there in 4th grade and that kid - what was his name?"

"Hugo!" remembered Abi, "He threw up all over Mrs Katler. It was disastrous!" Holly smiled at seeing Abi and Gail laughing so much. She didn't really know much about Gail's childhood - all she had heard had been bad things about her parents - it was nice to see her with some happy memories.

While they settled down in the living room after clearing away the dinner, Abi went to fetch something from her bag. When she came back into the room she saw Gail and Holly curled up together on the sofa. "Oh my gosh," she said with mock disgust, "Holly what have you done to Gail Peck? She's turned all romantic and cute." She teased. Gail stuck out her tongue at her. Abi just winked, then she waved the plastic bag she was holding. "I've got presents!" Gail snatched the bag greedily out of her hand and started rummaging through it. The first thing she pulled out was a DVD, the smile on her face was huge.

"I remember this!" marvelled Gail, putting the DVD on her lap so that she could sign, "We watched this so much when we were kids! It was the first video we got with subtitles, but you didn't really need them because we already knew the whole thing off by heart."

"You used to be able to sign the first scene off by heart!" reminisced Abi.

"We should watch it later then!" said Holly, stroking Gail's back. Gail and Abi agreed, then Gail continued to search through the bag. She pulled out a black photobook.

"No." she begged, shaking her head. Abi giggled mischievously. Gail tried to put the book back into the bag but Holly grabbed it. In the centre of the front cover there was a photo of Gail and Abi - they looked like they were in their late teens - both pulling funny faces at the camera. Above and below the picture, scrapbook style letters spelt out their names.

"Gail made it for me before I went away to college," explained Abi.

"So you have always been a softie!" teased Holly, kissing Gail's cheek.

Looking through the photobook of their childhood with Holly started off as being pretty embarrassing for Gail. There were photos of them both in their kindergarten play - Gail dressed as an elephant, Abi as a shark - although neither of them could remember what the play was about; at birthday parties and school trips all through elementary and middle school. As they got older, there were much fewer people in the photos - no longer were they surrounded by their classmates and other friends, they just had each other, but they still seemed to be having a great time - there were lots of photos of them pulling weird faces at each other. There were even some photos from prom, they both looked beautiful, Gail was standing awkwardly next to a rather uncomfortable looking guy, but Abi and her boyfriend were posing adorably. The summer after high school, the two of them had gone on a road trip of the East coast of America; there were photos of them from New York all the way to Florida. Holly's favourite photo was one that Abi had taken of Gail in the spring before they graduated. She was sitting on a pier, looking across a lake, her legs dangling in the water, and she was laughing. It was such an honest, realistic photo. Holly stared at it for quite a while. "I can send you a copy of that one," offered Abi, "It's such a great photo. She looks really beautiful." Holly nodded silently. Gail broke the silence with a laugh,

"Stop being so serious!" she giggled.

The next day when Holly got home the flat was empty; Gail and Abi were still shopping. She sent Gail a quick text.

H: I hope you're having fun. What time will you be home? Do you want dinner? I love you xxx

G: We're on our way back. We'll pick up pizza. See you in 20. I love you more! Xxx

Twenty-two minutes later Holly answered the door and Gail handed her the pizza boxes. "I've just got to go back to the car to fetch the shopping," she said, but she kissed Holly before she went out again. Moments later Abi came in carrying a lot of shopping bags, then Gail followed her in with even more!

"How much did you buy?" asked Holly in disbelief. Abi and Gail piled all the bags onto the kitchen counter - there were a lot of them.

"How was your day beautiful?" Gail asked Holly, kissing her more properly this time, savouring it.

"It was fine," said Holly, "rather uneventful." They sat down to eat the pizza, chatting and gossiping about their days. They ate quickly so that Gail and Abi could show off everything they'd bought. Some things they just held up, other things they tried on and did a mini catwalk show. There was one bag, a small black back with red ribbon handles, that Gail left without opening. "I'll model those for you later," she said smirking, winking at Holly. Holly blushed and Abi giggled.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy them!" said Abi with a cheeky grin.


	10. Caught in the Act

**A little bonus chapter here. It's not very long, but it was a special request from BSwifty1997. I hope you like it! Let me know what you think! :)**

Gail's heart stopped when she heard the address of the incident crackling over the radio. It was right next to Holly's parents' house. They were all there having a family BBQ, which Gail was planning to be going to once her shift was over - which was supposed to very soon. This call would be their last of the day. Oliver responded to despatch and asked for more information while Gail turned the cruiser around and started the siren. "A home security system alerted us to a break in a few moments ago. That's all we know. They just want us to check it out." Oliver informed her.

"Holly's parents live next door. The whole family is there, including Holly." Gail said quietly. Oliver could sense the nervous hesitation in her voice.

"They'll be fine," he reassured her, "It's probably just a mouse or something that set off the sensors." He could tell Gail was unconvinced.

They turned the sirens off at the end of the road and quietly approached the address they had been given. Gail recognised several of the Stewart family cars parked on the roadside. They pulled up outside the house next door and instantly noticed that the door was hanging partially open. They leapt out of the cruiser, glanced at each other, then simultaneously pulled out their weapons. With as little noise as possible they cleared the hallway and the living room. It was clear that someone had been there. Smashed glass from a cabinet scattered the carpeted floor, and there were a few wires showing, presumably from something like a hifi system that had been taken. They heard a noise from the next room so cautiously poked their guns around the door before running in. There was a man - well he wasn't really much older than a boy - standing in the middle of the kitchen, stuffing something into a large sports bag. When he noticed the two guns pointed straight at him, he froze for a fraction of a second, grabbed the bag, and a knife from the counter. He jabbed the knife once towards the officers, but then turned on his heels and took off out the back door. Gail and Oliver followed him quickly, out into the garden. It looked like he had nowhere to go because there was not gate out of the garden and the fence was very high, but, after glancing around frantically for a moment, he jumped on top of a pile of wooden planks at the back of one of the flowerbeds and scrambled over the fence into the next-door garden. Gail had to push the thoughts that Stewart family were there right to the back of her mind, she knew that she had to stay focused on the suspect. That became harder when she heard several squeals. She followed the guy's path over the wall, still holding out her gun, praying desperately that he wouldn't hurt anyone. Once over the fence, she didn't waste a second glancing around at Holly's family, she couldn't afford to lose concentration. She kept her eyes trained on the suspect and used every ounce of speed she had to catch up with him. She grabbed the back of his black sports coat, but he just wriggled out of it. He knocked over a garden chair as he ran, trying to dodge out of Gail's way. In a split second Gail made a decision; she stepped up onto a large flower pot, planting her foot next to the bundle of stalks, the little extra height meant that she had an improved vantage point. She grabbed the guy's wrist and twisted it sharply, not enough to seriously injure him but enough that he dropped the knife. She used her grip on his wrist to pull him around so that she could use her body to push him to the ground with his hands behind his back. She knelt over him on the floor, swapped her gun for her handcuffs, and cuffed him; kicking the knife out of his reach and reading him his rights.

It was only then that she allowed herself to breathe. She looked around and saw the shocked expressions of the faces of Holly and her family. Oliver came up behind her, tapped her on the shoulder and offered to take the suspect. She pulled the guy up and shoved him to Oliver who, in turn, passed him to Nick and Andy who had just arrived to back them up. As soon Nick and Andy disappeared out of sight with the suspect, Becki, who had tears streaming down her face, ran out from where she was hiding behind her dad's leg and threw herself at Gail, who picked her up. The little girl buried her face in Gail's neck, sniffing. "Hey, hey, don't worry," said Gail, softly bouncing Holly's niece up and down, "Everything's ok." Becki unburied her head and looked straight at Gail, her face smudged with tears. Gail smiled at her and kissed her on the forehead, then wiped the tears away with one finger. "You are safe. I promise," she said sincerely. "Is everyone else ok?" she asked, looking around at the others. They all nodded but looked a little shell shocked.

"It was a good catch Gail, well done." Said Oliver.

"Yes Gail, very impressive." said Miriam.

"She's such a badass!" Jacob said, meriting a stern glare from his mother and his wife. Holly didn't say anything but just walked over and kissed Gail on the lips, then rested her head on her forehead, breathing deeply. Becki, who was still in Gail's arms, patted Holly on the head and said,

"Don't worry Aunty Hols, Aunty Gail saved us." This made everyone laugh.

"Yes," said Holly. "Yes she did!"


	11. The Three Biggest Words

**I'm sorry again that this update has taken so long. I'm currently working on two other stories: a Bering and Wells one, and a crossover between Rizzles and Gail & Holly. Also I'm working on an engagement chapter for this fic so keep your eyes out for that!**

**In this chapter I attempted a little angst. Let me know what you think! :)**

"Why would I want to go? She hates me!" said Gail angrily, her voice sharp. Holly's friend Lisa was having a party, and Gail was not inclined to go. Holly sighed.

"She's one of my best friends!" said Holly sadly. Gail held her head in her hands.

"She looks down on me. She thinks you're too good for me. She doesn't take me, or our relationship, seriously," complained Gail.

"She didn't mean it," sighed Holly, "She's just a bit protective of me; she doesn't want me getting hurt."

"Yeah. And she's convinced that I'm going to hurt you." Gail's voice was considerably louder now.

"Please," begged Holly, "Just give her a second chance." This was the last straw for Gail. She stood up angrily, pushing the chair back across the room, trying to actively control her temper.

"Why should I? She never even gave me a first chance! She judged me without even getting to know me!" she was actually shouting now.

"Then prove her wrong. As soon as she gets to know you, she'll realise how wonderful you are. And you'll find out how great she is." But Gail wasn't having any of it. Before Holly had finished talking, Gail had picked up her half-finished plate of dinner, scraped the leftover pasta into the bin and dumped her plate into the sink. She was halfway out of the room when Holly asked quietly, "What you you doing?"

"I'm going home," she replied bitterly. That stung hard. Holly liked to think that Gail felt at home here in Holly's apartment.

"Gail," said Holly, upset, "please don't go." She got up and tried to put her arms around Gail but she was shrugged off.

"I'm tired," snapped Gail, "I don't want to argue. So I'm going home to bed." And with that, she marched out of the room. Holly collapsed back onto her chair in despair; a few moments later she heard the front door slam and she burst into tears.

Despite the fact that she still technically lived with them, Chris and Dov were both surprised when Gail appeared in the apartment. She stood in the door of the lounge looking tired and upset; her eyes were red and puffy. "Are you ok?" both of the guys asked, concerned. Gail didn't say anything. She wiped a tear from her cheek then dropped herself down onto the sofa and glared at the TV like it had personally hurt her. Dov and Chris glanced at each other, unsure of what to say or do, they had barely ever seen Gail cry. She sat with them for a few minutes, staring at the TV programme but not really watching it, then she suddenly got up. "I'm going to bed," she declared then marched out.

At work the next morning, those who hadn't already been warned by Chris or Dov quickly ascertained that Gail was in an awful mood. She looked so angry that most people kept away from her, and she snapped at pretty much everyone who did try to talk to her. She was partnered with Oliver, and when they were in the car he made the mistake of asking her what was wrong. She lurched into an angry rant about how horrid Lisa had been and that Holly wasn't doing anything about it. "Peck," said Oliver kindly, "You need to give her another chance. Both of them actually; Holly and Lisa. I know you're upset Peck, and I'm sure Holly knows it too! But come on." He took his eyes off the road for a second to glance at her. He could tell that she was listening to what he was saying so he carried on. "You've changed a lot Gail." She rolled her eyes. "You have! Since you met Holly you've changed. You are so much happier, much more grown up; you're still the same in many ways and we wouldn't want that to change, but you can't fall out with her over something like this. So you don't get on with her friend. There are bigger things to argue about." Gail shrugged and huffed but didn't say anything. The radio crackled and they were called to a disturbance a few blocks away.

After calming down a couple who had been arguing so loudly that their neighbours had called the police, Gail automatically checked her phone as she jumped back into the passenger seat of the cruiser.

H: How are you? Can we have lunch together? I missed you last night. Xxx

Gail just stared at the message, unsure of how it made her feel. Oliver was now sitting in the driver's seat and he glanced over at her. Perceptively, he knew that the message was from Holly and that it wouldn't do any good if he tried to weigh in on the situation again, so he just gave her a moment to think things through before they got back to work. They drove around in silence for a while, listening to conversations crackling back on forth on the radio, quite often just being visible in the neighbourhood was an important part of the job, so it didn't matter that all they were doing was driving around. Oliver took the decision to drive through one of the nicer areas that they didn't usually patrol, he could tell that Gail was still preoccupied. They drove around the suburban neighbourhood silently, watching the people go about their lives. There was an older couple walking their dog; a pregnant woman chatting away on her mobile; a young man washing his motorcycle; an elementary school was just letting out for the day, and groups of parents waited around the school gates to collect their children. Several of the kids watched with wonderment as the police car crawled slowly by, pointing it out to their parents; Gail watched them all from the car window. "Becki's starting there in the fall," she said quietly. Oliver had no idea what she meant. "Holly's niece Becki," she clarified, "She's starting kindergarten at that school soon." Oliver didn't know what to say so he just nodded. Gail sighed heavily.

Gail was quiet when they got back to the station. She went straight to her desk and started filling in the report without even greeting Chris or Nick who were also at their computers. Oliver was just walking to the break room when he noticed Holly hovering in the corridor. "Hi there," he said kindly, walking over to her. She smiled half-heartedly. "Are you ok?" he asked sincerely. Holly nodded but it was clear that she didn't mean it.

"Do you think she'll talk to me?" she asked quietly, looking at the floor.

"Go in there," said Oliver, pointing at the interview viewing room that he'd seen Holly and Gail emerge from once before. "I'll go and fetch her." Holly went into the room and paced up and down nervously, planning what she would say, until the door opened and Gail entered, her face sullen. As soon as she saw Gail, Holly forgot everything she had thought of to say. They just looked at each other for a few moments, silently. Holly took a big breath, as if she was about to say something, but then changed her mind and there was more silence.

"I'm sorry." Gail said out of the blue; a single tear rolled down Holly's cheek.

"Me too," said Holly, and before they knew it, they both had tears streaming down their faces.

"I spoke to Lisa. I told her that you are not just a little bit of casual fun, you are amazing and wonderful, and that you're not just a beat cop - although that's not a bad thing - but you are so much more than that, you are kind, and smarter than you let on, and caring, and funny; and I love you, every single little thing about you. The way you smile, the way..." she stopped because she looked up and saw the look on Gail's face.

"You love me?" Gail asked, tears rolling profusely down her cheeks. Holly smiled,

"Of course I do!" she said, "Didn't you know?"

"Well you've never said it," said Gail, wiping her face with the back of her hand, "And for the record, I love you too." They both took a step forward so that they were standing very close. Holly put her hands on Gail's hips, Gail gently wiped away Holly's tears then rested her hands on Holly's shoulders. "I love you." Gail said, seriously.

"And I love you," echoed Holly. She leaned in for a kiss and Holly met her half way. The kiss was deep, intense and full of feeling; they both tried to pour all their emotions into it, to make each other feel every bit of their love.


End file.
